Saturday, February 27, 2010

NEW YORK, NY.- This spring, Sotheby’s will bring to the market a superb work by iconic French Academic painter William Bouguereau. L’Amour et Psyché, dated 1899, is estimated at $1.8/2.2 million and will be featured in the 23 April sale of 19th Century European Art. Sold from a Distinguished Private Collection, the painting has been off the market for almost half a century. Its last known public exhibition was at the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1900.

Throughout his career, Bouguereau repeatedly interpreted the subject of Love – drawing inspiration from key figures in Greek mythology such as Cupid, Venus, and Psyché. While many of Bouguereau’s compositions featuring this subject depict an adult maiden surrounded by cherubic putti; a child Cupid taunting a more mature Venus; or both Cupid and Psyché as children, L’Amour et Psyché shows the mythological lovers Cupid and Psyché as young adults, one of only three known versions of this subject. Complementing the rarity of the subject matter is its size; the two characters are almost larger than life, a powerful visual effect made even more dramatic by their apparent suspension mid-air. The large scale draws attention to Bouguereau’s superior technical skill; both figures are strikingly life-like, their skin and musculature carefully modeled to suggest living bodies.

The tale of Cupid and Psyché greatly appealed to turn-of-the-century audiences for its obvious themes of love, beauty, jealousy and perseverance and the ultimate conclusion that love conquers all. Psyché, a young mortal woman of exceptional beauty, drives the powerful goddess of Love, Venus, into a jealous rage, who in turn commands her son Cupid to use his famous golden arrow to make her fall eternally in love with a monster. Cupid is too overcome with her beauty, and accidentally scratches himself with his arrow, falling deeply in love with the human girl. After a complex series of trials and tests created by Venus to destroy Psyché, the young mortal woman prevails and she and Cupid are united in a marriage blessed by Jupiter and Psyché is transformed into a goddess.

In L’Amour et Psyché Bouguereau depicts the “ravishing” of Psyché, or the taking of her by Cupid to his celestial lair. Representing the transportive power of Love, Cupid literally moves Psyché through the air, away from Earthly hardships, and toward a divine haven for their love. Cupid’s role as Psyché’s protector is reinforced by his lean physical strength and broad, outstretched wings. Psyché is often represented by butterfly wings, as her name in Greek literally means “soul” or “butterfly.” She has come to represent the human spirit’s ability to emerge from darkness.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

In Victorian London, though service wasn’t 24/7, it was close to 12/6. Home delivery routes would go by every house 12 times a day — yes, 12. In 1889, for example, the first delivery began about 7:30 a.m. and the last one at about 7:30 p.m. In major cities like Birmingham by the end of the century, home routes were run six times a day.

“In London, people complained if a letter didn’t arrive in a couple of hours,” said Catherine J. Golden, a professor of English at Skidmore College and author of “Posting It: The Victorian Revolution in Letter Writing” (2009).

And, not unlike us, most Victorian letter writers seemed more concerned about getting a rapid response than a long one. “Return of post” was an often-used phrase, requesting an immediate response, in time for the next scheduled delivery that day.

Lydia Lopokova was born in St Petersburg in 1892 and trained at the Imperial Ballet School. In 1910 Lydia left her homeland and joined the Diaghilev ballet, only staying with the company briefly and leaving for the United States after the summer tour concluded. She remained in America for six years before rejoining Diaghilev in 1916. She danced with the Ballets Russes and with her former partner Vaslav Nijinsky in New York and London. It was not until 1918 that she became well-known in London following the success of Good Humoured Ladies and an energetic performance with Leonide Massine in the Can-Can of La Boutique Fantasque. Lydia's first marriage to Diaghilev's business manager Randolfo Barrochi broke down in 1919 and for a short time the pretty little dancer disappeared. She was persuaded to rejoin the Diaghilev in 1921 when she danced as the Lilac Fairy and Princess Aurora in a production of The Sleeping Princess. In the 1920s she became a friend of Stravinsky, and of Picasso who drew her portrait on several occasions. It was also at this time that she became familiar with members of the Bloomsbury set and was introduced to her future husband John Maynard Keynes whom she married in 1925.

Knight met the beautiful and diminutive ballerina Lydia Lopokova around 1919, when Diaghilev's Ballets Russes returned to London and Knight was allowed to work backstage in the dressing rooms and wings of the theatre. Lydia noticed Laura sketching her one day and to Knight's discomfort asked that she might take a look at the sketch. The artist and her model agreed that the sketch was not very good and Knight was invited to visit Lydia's dressing room to study her at closer quarters. 'I wanted to watch, see things, get ideas, become familiar with all that happened. I knew it was going to take ages before I knew my subject, which was vast and held great possibilities... Soon Lopokova's quick understanding realised what was wanted. Her room should be my studio, she would never stay in any position on my account, she would go on with her make-up and dressing, standing in front of the long glass and go through positions and steps. We were both workers. There was to be no conversation; it was to be as if I did not exist. The privilege she gave me was most valuable... I sat in a corner, silent like a shadow, studying and making notes of everything that happened, from taking off the day-dress to the final fantasy.' (Laura Knight, Oil Paint and Grease Paint, 1936, p. 226) The freedom that Lydia gave to Knight to observe her in her dressing-room created several intimate paintings of life back-stage; 'In the glow of the electric bulbs her pale skin and hair were warm, turned to gold. The White tarlatan of her "Sylphides" dress filled the room, herself in it a sprite... Sweet scent of powder and grease-paint filled the air. Everything was glorious to paint; the contrast between the black-clothed dresser and the artificial brilliance, the character of the make-up table, its candle to heat the eyelash black, the white enamelled furniture and the white drugget on the floor' (ibid Knight, pp. 226-227). Knight had a particular affection and fascination with the red armchair which appears in the present painting, which she described as 'a thing of joy. Its seat bore the impress of the hundreds who had sat on it exalting in their success, they had passed on - the chair remained, extending its comforting arms to the next occupant of No. 1 Dressing-room. I was sentimental about that chair and imagined it saying, "Stars come and stars go, but I'm in the star dressing-room longer than any of them." (ibid Knight, p. 227)

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A blog on my love of Victorian and Edwardian paintings. Please note over 70,000 painters of this period, many very obscure, have been identified and this blog concentrates on those that have come up for auction in the last ten years or so. It is mainly compiled using old auction catalogues with help from the many reference books I own.

It includes painters born in the late 19th century who have painted well into the 20th. I make no pretence that my reproductions are technically accurate but are intended to show the style of the artist.

I rarely know who these paintings were sold to or the price they fetched. I recommend Artnet.com (a subscription service) to those for whom this is important. I am not in the Art trade, just an interested amateur who loves the arts of this period.